project tags:

Finally, a new portfolio!

Redesigning my portfolio was a lot more fun before I had actual things to put in it.

10 years ago — when I was fresh out of school — I used to redesign my portfolio multiple times a year. I had some visual design class assignments and a part-time graphic design job, so I did have some projects to include, but that number is obviously dwarfed by the archives of projects I have in my 1.4 TB “work” folder. I’ve been slowly going through all my old projects for the last month, looking for those few pieces that stand the test of time. I am still not finished.

In addition to the daunting task of selecting the content of my new portfolio, I procrastinated dealing with the design and development of the site itself. I used to love developing my X-Files sites, but web programming has gotten just a bit more complicated since 1998. I felt overwhelmed by the options and finally just had to pick one. I went with WordPress, and a host (Flywheel) that makes setup and maintenance easy. So far I’m quite pleased with this decision.

As for the design, I had a particular UX in mind: a masonry layout with the ability to sort with filters. I also wanted all projects to come up in a lightbox for easy navigation (and minimal copywriting). I tried a couple simple WordPress themes, then my own theme from scratch (OMG don’t do it!!), but finally settled on this overly complicated Kalium theme. After several hours of fixes and tweaks, I finally feel like it’s close to my original vision. (Thanks to Tea for helping me with one particularly vexing issue!)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and consider me for your next design project. I’m currently looking for new freelance opportunities, email me!